The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place on December 29 in Moscow's St. Daniel's monastery under the chairmanship of Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev), accepted 102 clerics of the Patriarchate of Alexandria from 8 African states into its jurisdiction without vacation certificates.
This is reported by Credo Portal.
Having decided to violate the requirements of the Orthodox canons regarding the procedure for receiving clergy of other local churches, the Synod referred to "the impossibility of further refusal of the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria, who submitted relevant requests, to accept them under the omophorion of the Moscow Patriarchate."
The Synodal certificate accompanying the publication of the relevant resolution states that the patriarch of Alexandria "evaded schism", while not giving a single theological and canonical assessment of the status of the Church of Alexandria, which is mentioned in the rules of Ecumenical Councils.
The patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, consisting of the dioceses of North Africa and South Africa, was formed for the newly accepted clergy.
At the same time, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church does not recognize the Patriarchate of Alexandria as having ceased to exist, that is, it creates "parallel" entities on its territory. The head of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa will have the title "of Klin".
The Synod included the following countries in the North African diocese: the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Sudan, the Republic of South Sudan, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the state of Eritrea, the Republic of Djibouti, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republic of Seychelles, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Cameroon, The Republic of Chad, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Niger, the state of Libya, the Tunisian Republic, the Algerian people's Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Republic of Cape Verde, the Islamic Republic Mauritania, Republic of Senegal, Republic of Mali, Burkina Faso, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Liberia, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Ghana, Togolese Republic, Republic of Benin. The diocesan bishop of the North African Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP decided to acquire the title "Cairo and North Africa".
The Synod included the following countries in the Diocese of South Africa: the Republic of South Africa, Kingdom of Lesotho, Kingdom of Eswatini, Republic of Namibia, Republic of Botswana, Republic of Zimbabwe, Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Angola, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of the Republic of Mauritius, Republic of the Republic of Mauritius, The Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Gabonese Republic, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. Diocesan bishop of the Diocese of South Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church will have the title "of Johannesburg and South Africa".
Archbishop Leonid (Gorbachev) of Yerevan and Armenia, who held the Yerevan see for only a little over two months, was appointed Metropolitan of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, "with instructions to manage the North African diocese and temporarily manage the South African diocese." At the same time, Leonid was dismissed from the post of Deputy Chairman of the DECR of the MP, but he retained the temporary administration of the Yerevan-Armenian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox church.